Direct current transformer



' March 28, 1944. T. A. RICH 2,345,430

I DIRECT CURRENT TRANSFORMER Filed Dec. 9, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l lmventor: Theodore APich,

y His Attorney.

March 28,1944. T A I H 2,345,430

DIRECT CURRENT TRANSFORMER Filed Dec. 9, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inve ntor;

b a a/2W y His Attorney.

Theodore A.Pich,

Patented Mar. 28,- 1944 lTE.

STATES rarer FFlCE.

v assures mecca ccnasur rcsusroatma Theodore A. Rich, Schenectady, NO 2., assigns: to

General Electric llomyany a corporation oi New York 9 Claims,

My invention relates to the measurement of direct current and is particularly useful where the current to be measured is large and flows in a large conductor or conductors, for example, a current of 2000 or 80,000 amperes flowing in a conductor six to twenty inches in diameter or the equivalent. The conventional way of measur= ing large direct currents is to connect a resistance shunt in the circuit and measure the drop in voltage across the shunt. For larger currents the shunt necessary for such measurements be comes extremely large, heavy and expensive. An important object of my invention is to reduce the sine-weight cost or the apparatus and also to avoid the n cessity of breaking the heavy con doctor circuit ior a measurement connection such for inserting a shunt.

in carrying my invention into effect employ be called a direct on: t l oolr on transformer in which the primal d the direct current to be measu forruer effect is obtained by rev secondary" winding. Also, the see is made up of several coils which A about the crime-i y in such a way a o make the transformation ratio independent any or ct relative positioning of primary second w ndings. These other feat s will pl in connection with the drawings in which Fig. 1 is an exp sranunatic representation or" an.

distributed lg rent transformer, Fig. 2 a correspond-.ng representation of my direct current transformer, is. 3 is a side view of one of the reversible coils of Fig. 2, i is a perspective view with the too well partly broken away of a preferred ment of my invention for measuring moderately high direct currents, say up to 3008 arnperes, Fig. 5 r presents a two-way switch used with the transformers of Figs. 4 and Z, i represents another embodiment of my invention. having a generally rectangular core structure, Fig 3 shows the transformer oiFig. 7 open for the reception of the primary, and Fig. '6 is a circuit diagram of an instrument torque nulliiylng system which enables inexpensive rugged direct current measuring instruments to he used with my invention.

If, in Fig. i, it represents a conductor carrying an alternating current, it will produce a flux surroundlng the conductor proportional to the current flowing. The flux produced may be largely confined to a definite path about the cable by the use of a magnetic core i i. If a coil ll be wound on one side of the core we have an alternoting current transformer and a secondary ourembodiv the core as rent will flow in the secondary coil which may be measured on an instrument It. Such a transformer will have somewhat different transformation ratios, depending upon the position of the primary ill with respect to the coil l2. For example, if the primary be moved to the dotted line position ltd. the transformer ratio will be different than before. Such a transformer has what may be termed a position error, meaning that unless the conductor primary id is always placed in the same position with respect to the secondary coil iii error in transformation ratio will result. llrls of error may be corrected by distributlna the secondary winding uniformly about represented by the secondary whirl:

a have error due to various different positions of o n w conductor ill. This distributed y coll 'nci'ple is used in my direct our s c er to the extent necessary to avoid s have shown a base or supporting i 3 on which is mounted magnetic core up into segments, four long l'l, four medium length segments it,

The seglt are uniformly distributed about the circle of segments wound thereon are coils con g secondary winding. 1 have found six coils distributed as shown in a circle nrovide a swfilcient distribution of the secondary winding to avoid any noticeable position error. The transformer base and core structure is provided with facilities such as being. hinged at so as to be swung open at 22 to'close around and embrace the primary conductor or ccnduc tors represented at 23 and 25, for the purpose of avoiding any necessity of cutting or otherwise breaking the primary circuit in order to couple the transformer in measuring relation therewith. The several coils 26 are connected in series to produce transformer voltages in the same direction in the series circuit by a flexible conductor wire 25 having terminals at 26 and 21. I'he transformer as thus far described may be used as a split core alternating current transformer of zero position error by connecting a suitable alternating current measuring instrument across terminals 26 and 21 and by suitable calibration. Owing to the several air gaps in the core, a percentage of the primary flux will be leakage fluxand the transformer will not have the ratio for a given number of turns in the secondary windins that would be expected from a continuous core transformer such as shown in Fig. 1, but this ,is immaterial since it will have a'constant ratio within the current range for which it is designed. Collectively the coils will intercept the same percentage of total flux regardless of the position of the embraced primary conductor.

There will, of course, be no transformer action if a uniform direct current flows in'the' primary conductors 23 or 25 or both and I will now explain the features by means of which the transformer can be used for measuring direct current. Each of the six small core segments is with their coils 2d are pivoted on their centers on posts 2&

. to the structure.

which rise from the base is as shown in Fig. 3.

The wirecable 25 which connects the coils in series, is also partially wrapped about and secured to small grooved drums 2Q concentric with the axis of rotation of the coils and here represented as being located on the tops of the coils. This wire is also secured in dri relation with a driving drum so near the hinge ft. The driving 'drum is provided with a hdleti by means of which it may be rotated suficientlyto simultaneously rotate all of the pivoted coils and cores by 180 degrees. The cable wire 25 is kept taut by means of spiral springs secured between the supporting structure and the ends of the cable and constituting or associated with the terminals at 26 and ii. The wire 25 is connected through connectors in the drum structure so in series with the corresponding coils. It is thus seen that by rotating the drum so from the position shown, counterclockwise about 180 degrees against the stop 32, all of the pivoted coils and cores will be rotated 180 degrees, which is-the equivalent to reversing the secondary winding. Such operation tensions the springs 2d and 2? so that when the handle Si is released it snaps back against a stop :3 and again reverses the secondary winding. When the coils are'thus reversed the flux in the core produced b z-current flow in primary 23 and 21 reverses its direction through the several'secondary coils and produces a voltage impulse which is proportional to the primary current. If, now thesecondary winding be connected in series with a flux meter galvanometer 34, such galvanometer will deflect by a corresponding amount and may be calibrated in terms of primary current flow.

The ballistic galvanometer represented in Fig. 2 is of the suspension having a moving coil suspended by a torsional wire 38 which also serves to conduct current to the moving coil. This coil is located in the field ofa permanent magnet 31.

mirror 38 secured to wire 96 and reflects a light beam from a light source 88a to a calibrated scale 38. The galvanometer will deflect in one direction when the handle it is rotated counterclockwise and-in the opposite direction when the handleis released and rotates in the opposite direction. The rapidity at which the secondary winding is thus reversed does not influence the magnitude of deflection of the galvanometer as long as, a certain, easily attained, speed is ex.--

ceeded. -Hence the apparatus may be calibrated to accurately measure direct current flow in the cable or cables 23 and and will also show the direction of such flow.

For use outside of the laboratory I prefer to use a more rugged type of measuring instrument as will be explainedin connection with Figs. 4 and 6.

Fig. 4 represents more clearly the actual construction of a direct current transformer similar The deflection is indicated by a' ture the core strips at are provided with facing strips 48 secured to frame plates Ml and M and designed with a view of providing suitable rigidity All core parts M are suitably supmrted from the frame plates to and it as shown at 49. The core parts 44 and'45 are bent to provide radial aligned pole faces opposite the pivoted core parts Q6 so that the stationary axial positions of the pivoted coils and their cores are radial as illustrated. The air gaps are made suiiicient to allow the pivoted core parts to swing freely in reversing. 5d represents the pivot posts for the several coils and SI their driving drums. The manually operated driving drum and operating handle are shown at 52 and 53 respectively. An idler pulley 54 is provided near thghinge 62 for guiding the wire 25. 32 and 33 are the stop posts which limit the throw of handle 53 and exactly position the coils in their reversed positions. These positions should be such as to intercept equal fluxes for a given current flow in the primary. The tensioning springs 26 and 2! for wire 25 are coiled about and secured to posts 54a and 55. At the upper ends of these posts are pivoted small drums 56 and 51 to which the free ends of the springs are fastened and the terminal ends of wire 25 are wrapped a few times about and secured to these, drums and brought out to terminals 58 and 59 on their tops and are connected by flexible leadsi to terminals on the broken away part of the upper support 50, see Fig. .6. y I

It will be observed that the arrangement of the wire 25 and the various drums over which it rides issuch that the hinged core structure can be swung wide open and closed again without disturbing such wire cable driving arrangement or interfering with the insertion of a cable. When the core is opened the wire 25 may be tensioned slightly but the spiral spring at 21 yields to prevent undue strain on the wire. The drums 5! are preferably slightly grooved as shown at 50 to keep the wire 25 in place regardless of any position in which the transformer device might be oriented when in use. On the shaft of driving drum iz I'have provided a cam 6| for operating a switch shown in detail in Fig. 5, the purpose of which will be explained in connection with Fig. 6.

The measuring instrument which I prefer to use, particularly for field service, is an ordinary sensitive moving coil direct current measuring instrument having a pointer and scale. Such instruments have spirals serving as lead-in terminals to the moving coil and hence some restoring torque. is unavoidable. However, for measuring flux it'is desirable that the moving element of the measuring instrument have no restoring torque to cause drift of the pointer when a reading is being taken, and hence I arrange to pass very small auxiliary currents through the instrument for the purpose of annulling whatever restoring torque or tendency of the pointer to drift may exist at any desired part of the scale. The deflection produced by the flux measurement desired may then be accurately readat leisure, usinga rugged instrument suitable for portable field service. Although not a true fluxmeter, its behavior is made to correspond substantially to that of a fluxmeter by counteracting its small spring torque with an equivalent electrodynamic torque at various different deflections in the manner now to be explained.

Referring now to Fig. 6, my improved hinged core, direct current transformer with zero position error is shown at the right with its secondary winding connected to an. ordinary sensitive direct current measuring instrument 62 such as mentioned above through a low resistance 63. Resistance 83 is connected across a resistance bridge circuit supplied by a low voltage battery 84 by means oi which various selected small voltages may be impressed across resistance 63. to send corresponding small currents through instrument 62 to annul the torque of its lead-inv spirals, to prevent drift of the pointer both at zero and up-scale deflection points and to return the pointer to zero as and when desired.

The double throw switch shown at tic represents the switch shown in Fig. which is located in the transformer and is operated by the handle Bil when the secondary winding of thetransformer is reversed. It is shown out of location in Fig. 6 to clarify the circuit connections.

Assume that direct current is flowing in the cable 23, Fig. 6. Then when handle its is thrown in one direction instrument 6% will deflect in one direction and when it moves in the opposite direction instrument 672 will deflect in the conesite direction. Assuming that instrument 82 had no torque of any kind at any point oi? the scale the current in cable 28 was constant, the tin-scale deflection of instrument 62 would he oi the same amount as the down-scale deflection and could be read at leisure. For convenience in reading the instrument, one oi these deflection ooints, say the down-scale point, should correto the aero oi the scale. Since the instrurnent used has a weak spring torque, the zero or the scale may not exactly correspond to the no torque position oi the ointer. in case resistance too is adjusted until just enough current oi the proper direction is sent through instrument 532 to position the pointer on the zero oi the scale with the handle 53 positioned for the down-scale deflection. switch Sic is at this time closed to connect the bridge through resistance arinsslbc. l 'jandle to is new thrown to reverse the transformer secondary, causing instrument 52 to deflect up-scale and closing switch on resistance branch tap it the pointer oi instrument or now starts to drift one way or theother, tan Si; is adjusted along resistance (its to restore the pointer position to that of the true deflection as near as possible. in other words, the spring torque of the instrument is annulled for this approximate urn-scale deflection. The measuring operation is then repeated and if there is no drift of pointer either at zero or upscale the reading obtained is a correct one for the particular value of current flowing in cable fill at the time. If there is further drift, a further minor adjustment oi the resistance may be made and the measurement repeated. An exact balonce is not necessary it the reading is taken promptly.

With such an instrument and drift annulling arrangement the movement of the pointer to zero, with the proper adjustment oi top 65, will be slow and occasions will arise when a prompt zero setting will be desirable. For this purpose I provide the switch 61 which varies the connection or battery 61 along bridge resistance legs 68 and 69. By operation of switch 8? between the three taps shown, the pointer oi instrument 62 may be quickly restored to the zero of the scale. It will, of course, be necessary to use difiere'nt adjustments of tap-56 for each value of current measured and corresponding different measurement deflections unless the difference is so small that the deflection can be read before there is any erroneous drift of the pointer.

As is known, the calibration range of instrument '82 may be changed in the usual way and three alternative terminals are represented for this purpose. Scale ranges for lilil, 50c and 2000 amperes full scale are recommended. The very small currents which are passed through instrument 62 for annulling drift are of course passed through the secondary Winding of the transformer but this has no eilect on the accuracy of the measurements made. Another way of changing the calibration is to only partially reverse the transformer secondary coils. Thus stop posts may be placed inholes 32a and 33a to limit the throw of handle 53 and the flux intercepted by the coils accordingly.

Apparatus such as shown in Fig. 4- has been built with an internal clearance for the primary winding cables of about seven inches diameter. has a useful current measurement range of from so to 2069 amperes and weighs 8 pounds. it will be noted that in the up of Fig. i th core is oi relatively small cross-section and contains numerous air cam. Such -on in magnetic core material may be carried to the point of havins no core material other than that on which the reversible coils are wound or even to a complete sir core. For example, in Fig. 2 all of the unwound core parts it and it may be removed with the only effect oi reducing the transformation ratio. Eirect current transformers for measuri current up to 33,903 amperes have been so designed with good accuracy and complete air core transformers are included within the scope of my inven.,.on. This feature has the important advantage reducing the cost and weight of the transformer.

in l l have shown another embodiment of my invention which gives satisfactory results and particularly useful Where the heavy primary conductors or bus bars are of rectangular shape or are disposed so as to be best encircled by a rectangular shaped transformer core assembly. Here the rectangular cable opening may he say six by twelve inches with three coils ll on each of the long sides and two coils on each of the shorter sides. Stationary core parts it, ii and i2 are necessary only at the corners. In this modification the core assembly is opened to slip over the primary cables by hinging the near end on a bolt 3 extending through the core parts it end at the left corner. The core assembly is opened in the manner represented in Fig. 8 by turning the end section either up or down. whichever is most convenient. The series connecting wire and reversing cable 25 passes through a central axial opening in bolt 13. An idler pulley l6 with its periphery in line with the pivot is provided at this corner for wire 25 and at the opposite corner as shown. The driving drum l5 and coil reversing handle and the cam operated switch it are located at the rear solid corner of the assembly. A rectangular framework structure "Ill made up of boards or any suitable nonmagnetic materlal such as fiber board, hard rubber or the like is used to support, protect and house the parts as represented. Such transformer structures are relatively light in weight and easy to handle but are also of rugged construction, suitable for portable field service and use by ordinary metermen.

Any of these devices can be used to indicate change in direct current without moving parts.

For exampleto measure the current in a D. C.

line that can be interrupted a device similar to Fig. 2 may be used without any iron core. The switching arrangement of Fig. 6 can then be actuated by a relay when the line is switched on for example. Assoon as steady current is attained (which usually will be seconds or fractions of a second) a second switch can be flipped to cut on the transformer. The calibration obtained by reversing the coils will' indicate /2 the correctcurrent. This type of instrument will prove valuable where short time currents are used, such as in magnetizing magnets and where the conventional instrument will not respond rapidly enough.

WhatI claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United States is:

1. A direct current transformer comprising a supporting structure having an opening therethrough and provided with facilities whereby it may be opened and closed for the purpose of emwithout breaking such cable, a plurality of coils supported on said structure and substantially uniformly distributed about the opening in the structure in a manner to collectively intercept a predetermined amount of flux produced by current fiow through such an embraced cable, said coils being pivoted on said structure to permit them to be turned'and reversed with respect to the direction of such flux interception, said coils being connected in series to form a secondary winding and means for simultaneously reversing all of said coils. 1

2. A direct current transformer comprising a supporting structure having a cable opening therethrough, said structure being made in relatively movable sections whereby it may be opened and closed for the purpose of embracing an electric cable within such opening without breaking the cable, a plurality of coils supported on and substantially uniformly distributed about. the cable opening in the structure so as to collectively intercept a predetermined amount of flux produced by current flow through such embraced cable regardless of the exact position of such cable within the opening, said coils being pivoted on said structure to permit them to be rotated and reversed with respect to the direction of such flux interception and so that they will intercept equal portions of such flux in either of the rebracing an electric cable within such opening versed positions, a cable system connected with all of saidcoils for reversing all of' the pivoted coils simultaneously, the cable of said system being of conducting material and serving to connect all of said coils in series as a secondary winding.

3. A direct current transformer comprising a supporting structure having an opening therethrough for the reception of an electric cable, magnetic core means on said structure disposed to' provide a path for flux around said opening, substantially uniformly distributed sections of said core means being pivoted on said structure and rotatable thereon so that they may be reversed in the fluxcircuit to reverse the relative direction of fluxjlow through the pivoted core sections, coils wound on'said pivoted core secaeaaeso tions, means connecting all of said coils in series as a secondary winding, and means for simultaneously reversing all of said pivoted core sections.

4. A direct current transformer comprising a two-part supporting structure containing a conductor opening, a hinge between the two parts of said structure whereby the structure may be opened for the purpose of embracing a conductor within the opening of the structure without breaking the conductor, a plurality of coils sup.- ported on the two parts of said structure and substantially uniformly distributed about the conductor opening when'the structure is closed, said coils being pivoted on said structure and rotatable between reversed direction, flux intercepting positions with respect'to flux produced about said conductor opening by reason of current flow through a conductor therein, a reversing drum for each pivoted'coil, an operating drum located on one part of said structure, cable means passing about all of said drums such that when the operating drum is rotated all of said coils are rotated and reversed simultaneously and spring means for maintaining said cable means taut, said cable means passingfrom one part to the other of said structure near the hinge thereof so as not to interfere with or be damaged by the duced by current how in a conductor embraced by said structure, said coils having magnetic cores to assist in directing such flux therethrough, a circuit connecting said coils in series as a secondary transformer winding, grooved drums attached to said coils coaxial with their pivots, a driving drum, a cable system in driving relation with all of said drums whereby the coils may all be reversed simultaneously, the cable of said system passing from one half to the other half of the structure adjacent the hinge thereof, whereby such cable system does not interfere with the opening and closing of said structure, said cable also comprising the series circuit connection between said coils, and springs secured between said structure and ends of said cable system to maintain the latter taut.

6. A direct current transformer comprising a hollow rectangular supporting structure one side of whichis pivoted so as to be swung to open the structure in order that current-carrying conductors may be embraced within the hollow" rectangular structure without breaking the cable.

.a plurality of coils distributed around the structure so as to collectively intercept a definite proportion of the flux produced by current flow in an embraced conductor regardless of the po- -sition of such conductor within the structure,

carried by said structure including cores for said coils forming a flux path about said structure through the coils.

7. Apparatus for measuring direct current comprising in combination with a conductor carrying the current to be measured, a supporting structure loosely embracing said conductor and adapted to be placed and removed from such embracing relation without breaking the conductor, magnetic core sections supported on said structure providing a path for flux produced by current flow in the embraced conductor, substantially uniformly distributed core sections which are included in such flux path being piv-,

oted on said structure and carrying coils whereby the pivoted sections may be reversed in the flux path to reverse the flux through said coils, means for reversing all of said pivoted core sections simultaneously, and a direct current measuring instrument connected series relaenergization thereof, adjustable means including direct current deflecting type measuring instrument, having spiral leading-in terminals to the moving coil, connected in series with said winding, means for reversing the direction of flux interception by said winding to induce an. electroniotive force therein and produce a correspending energization of said instrument, an auxiliary source of direct current supply for energizing said instrument for the purpose of nulliiylng the torque of its leading-in spirals, a pair of adjustable resistance circuits by means of which such torque nullifying energy may be supplied to the instrument, means fdr selectively adjusting the resistances of the two circuits for different torque-nullifying results corresponding to two different deflection positions of said instrument and a switch for closing one or the other of said circuits operated simultaneously with the aforesaid reversing means.

THEODORE A. RICH. 

